Linda Gray clearly recalls the first time she was introduced to one Larry Hagman.

They’d been cast as Sue Ellen and J.R. Ewing, a super-rich, often-backstabbing Texas couple on the CBS series, Dallas, which debuted in April 1978.

“All of the actors walked into this room in Burbank,” Gray says. “Mr. Hagman, as he likes to be called, walked in carrying a carved leather saddlebag on his shoulder, and he was wearing a cowboy hat.

“The saddlebag was filled with ice and two bottles of champagne — very expensive champagne,” she adds with a smile. “He looked right at me and said, ‘Hello, darlin’.’ I thought, ‘What have I gotten myself into?’”

What she’d gotten herself into was a television phenomenon, which for 13 seasons defined the city it was named for. Dallas became the epitome of over-the-top cliffhangers and family drama. It was home to the devilishly charming J.R. Ewing, who still shows up on most lists of all-time greatest TV villains. And every week, Dallas was introduced by a toe-tapping theme song that has been hummed by viewers across the globe.

Say hello again, darlin'. They’re back.

A new version of the series, which features Hagman, Gray and Patrick Duffy from the original cast, along with characters representing the younger generation, began filming in North Texas on Oct. 17 and will premiere this summer on TNT. On a recent Friday on the set, the atmosphere among cast and crew could be summed up in two words: love fest.

“We’re just beside ourselves,” Gray says as she nibbles on lunch before filming a scene at her character’s high-rise office downtown. “About two years ago, the three of us got a phone call: ‘Would you be interested in coming back?’”

The veteran Ewings checked in with one another before answering a hearty yes.

“People don’t realize that we’re very good friends,” she says. “We love and respect and take care of each other. We’ve grown up together. Well, we’re still not grown up, but we’re grandparents.”

After the project became reality, “I thought, ‘Wow, let’s do some Sue Ellen homework,’” Gray says. “Where would she be?”

For now, she’s in a fancy office in the Harwood building on Bryan Street. While filming a scene with Josh Henderson, who plays her son, John Ross Jr., Gray tries to keep a prop on her desk still.

“I don’t like that clock,” she quips between takes. “Sue Ellen’s putting it on eBay tomorrow.”

The ruggedly handsome Henderson, who grew up in Mesquite and Tulsa, says he was “too ADD” to pay attention to the original series way back when.

“But my meemaw watched it all the time,” he adds. “It’s amazing that I’m now on her favorite show. I know she’s looking down on me from above, and the fact that I’m J.R. Jr. is surreal.”

What has it been like to work with Hagman, who has this particular day off?

“I met him a few times before we did the first scene, but on Day One of the pilot, it was like, ‘There is J.R.,’” he says. “That character lives.”

Such a rebirth in television is rare. Executive producer Cynthia Cidre, taking a break at the South Lamar stage where the interior Southfork Ranch scenes are shot, admits that when she was approached to create the pilot, her answer was more of a question mark.

“I said, ‘Well, I don’t know. It’s been 20 years. What do you want to do about Dallas?’” she recalls. “But then the idea had taken root. I knew J.R. and Bobby had sons, and I did the math, which would make them 28 or 30. With intra-family fights, it was a great plan. Blood-on-the-page drama.”

As for the returning cast members, “we were extremely fortunate to get Patrick, Linda and Larry,” Cidre adds. “It was just dumb luck that I picked the right three.”

Duffy would have to agree with that.

“Nothing happens concerning Dallas, past or present, that we don’t communicate with each other on first,” he says from his character’s den. “We must have been married to each other in a past life. What do you call it? We have an unconditional friendship.”

The three assumed they’d never be able to work together again, because the audience would immediately associate them with the Ewings.

“It was a dead issue,” he says, “and now here we are again.”

As for his famous TV brother, “when you get a Larry Hagman, you never let a Larry Hagman go,” Duffy says. “It’s like an infection, actually.”

The laughter flows easily on the set when the cameras stop rolling. During one break, the crew surprises Jesse Metcalfe, who plays Duffy’s son, with a birthday cake.

“This right here is the best experience I’ve ever had acting,” Metcalfe says of his new job.

After watching several episodes of the original series, Metcalfe says he grew to appreciate it for the phenomenon that it was.

“If we could have a fraction of that success,” he adds, “we’d be sitting pretty.”

Of course, that remains to be seen. Producer Ken Topolsky, whose credits include The Wonder Years and Party of Five, says predicting success in his industry is difficult: “All we can do is make the show as good as we can make it. Then it’s up to an audience to give us a grade.”

For now, the cast and crew are enjoying what Dallas and Dallas have to offer. Jordana Brewster, who plays a family friend of the younger Ewings, raves about shopping in the West Village. Metcalfe is a big fan of the cheeseburgers at Del Frisco’s. Gray visited the Jean Paul Gaultier exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art three times.

As for Topolsky, “If I never worked in LA again and only work in Dallas, I’d be the happiest guy on earth.”

They’re all hoping for lightning in a good ol’ Texas storm to strike twice.

“People say something about TV as an art form that they don’t say about anything else: ‘I grew up with that show,’” Topolsky says. “Friday night with the parents watching Dallas — that’s a touchstone in people’s lives. We’re stepping into a legacy, and we have to measure up.”

A lot has changed in the two decades since Dallas, including Dallas itself.

“Downtown has totally changed,” Gray says. “I went 500 feet down a one-way street once. I thought, ‘Man, I’m gonna be killed on my first day back.’ But Mr. Hagman stepped in and said, ‘Listen, darlin’, I’ll get you a GPS.’”

Whenever she mentions her old friend, Gray’s face lights up.

“Larry and I work so well together,” she says. “You can almost feel it in the air, this clear connection. It’s magic. So to get this shot at the same characters, 20 years later, is such a great gift.”

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